A Mission Trip Transplant

Saturday, July 17, 2010
A Mission Trip Transplant

The Facts:
At 6:00am this morning, the NOLA2010 Team gathered at Keystone before embarking on cross-country trip to New Orleans, Louisiana. Our caravan consists of three 15-passenger vans, two 8-foot trailers, and one baby blue Crown Victoria that looks straight out of a 1993 police fleet. Packed inside are 28 teenagers, 8 adults, and luggage for 9 days. As I write, we are buzzing along route 81 in Virginia and planning on staying the night in Chatanooga, TN. Thank you for your prayers as we travel. Please also keep in mind Becky & Kyle Glick who will be flying down to join us on Sunday.

The Details:
We have a stellar lineup for this year’s team. God has provided three skilled laborers to lead work teams in the city. Barry Yoder, Jarin Smoker, & Doug Smoker each bring an experience & expertise that will greatly enhance the productivity of our efforts. Becky Glick, Molly Rineer, Clare Evans, Erica Horning, and Duane Evans round out other adults. Including this week, our leadership team has already served over 25 weeks with Crisis Response, plus an entire year that Doug Smoker and his family served.

Our teen group is a healthy blend of 14 guys and 15 girls from all senior high grade levels. Some are new to mission trips; others have served several times in New Orleans. I’m looking forward to the how our teams will gel. There are a lot of new experiences and challenges ahead of us. These events can have polarizing effects; hard times can tear us apart or bind us together. My prayer hasn’t been for a comfortable week—relationships grow strongest during the greatest trials. My prayer is only that Jesus would remain the strength of our heart and our portion forever.

The Story:
As Duane & Doug were hitching up Keystone’s trailer, we noticed it was full of tables and chairs. We gathered a few guys and made short work of unloading the trailer before loading it back up with our own gear. In the midst of the unexpected labor, Duane and I joked that we weren’t supposed to start serving until we got to New Orleans. It was a lighthearted joke, but I wonder how many of us are more serious in that mentality.

While we traveled home last year’s mission trip, the young adults stopped in Nashville to celebrate the Fourth of July. I had a tough time calling that little detour part of the mission trip, so I said as we entered the city, “The mission trip is over.” Not long after that, we encountered a homeless couple looking for money. So how do you respond to people in need when the mission trip is over? Conclusion: The Mission Trip is NOT over! (Check out the details in the previous blog.) But when does it start?

Though we are serving in New Orleans this week, we have already been sent by Jesus on a mission trip. When Jesus prays to his Father in John 17, he says, “As you [Father] sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” And we know our mission is to make disciples, love one another, serve one another, let our light shine before others, (insert biblical command here). Though we won’t start “serving” on the mission trip until Monday, the Mission Trip has already started—we’ve just been transplated.